The Delhi assembly has been in suspended animation since Arvind Kejriwal quit as chief minister in February. Some people have argued since then that it’s anyway a great waste of resources to have a separate government for Delhi, which seems to be getting along fine without one.

This argument goes: Union home ministry can manage the capital’s security, Union urban development ministry its infrastructure needs, and so on. When the outcry against a power crisis was at its peak, Piyush Goel certainly did a good job of addressing Delhiites’ concerns.

But Delhi is now the world’s second most populous city. Its needs are gargantuan and complex. Managerially speaking, it’s not really the most efficient solution to have the Union energy minister focussing inordinate energies on Delhi when the whole country is crying out for his attention. And when taxpayers are paying good money to support 70 MLAs in Delhi.

As the court said, “Suppose a citizen, who is a resident of Delhi, comes before the court and says taxpayer’s money is being paid as salary to the MLAs but there is no work for them. He will say I want my elected representative to get down to work. But they are not being allowed to work. So is it not time for the authorities to take a decision.”

It’s true that BJP is no guiltier than AAP of going back and forth on whether fresh elections are in its best interests – while Congress watches from the sidelines since it could not even manage a second place finish in a single constituency in the Lok Sabha elections, where BJP made a clean sweep.

But, to repeat and underline, the ball is now in BJP’s court. So is the responsibility. It can keep running away from this by pointing fingers at AAP’s follies – which are undoubtedly many in number.

What it must also remember is that had it not delayed anointing Harsh Vardhan its chief ministerial nominee to less than a month before the Delhi assembly polls, AAP may never have come to power in the first place. Now BJP’s looking to starve AAP of political oxygen – because Arvind Kejriwal really needs to return to the Delhi assembly to re-establish a meaningful political presence. However, this machiavellian game is hardly fair to Delhiites. Don’t take us for granted.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Having journeyed to journalism via a career in academics and a doctorate in media studies from the University of Florida, Renuka Bisht now has the great pleasure of working with The Times of Ideas (editorial page of TOI) where she writes on a variety of political, economic and cultural topics. As impressed as the next person by big bang reforms, she’s also a champion of incremental change – because even a little star can light the way for a traveller in the dark.

Having journeyed to journalism via a career in academics and a doctorate in media studies from the University of Florida, Renuka Bisht now has the great ple. . .